Corona: Brighter Than The Sun
by Doctor-of-What
Summary: What does someone do when they gain awesome and fantastic powers? Become a superhero, what else?
1. Field Trips and Robots

Timeline: Early Season Two

What does a young man do when he gains awesome and supreme powers? Become a super-hero, what else? With his own set of villains to deal with, and a horde or robots gunning for him, will be able to survive let alone get to school on time?

===

"Welcome to the future of electrical power young ladies and gentlemen." Began the man in a white lab coat. He was somewhat short and balding, and had thick glasses, but had a friendly smile on his face as he addressed the field trip that gathered at the new power plant. "I am Hugh Kinas. And I will now show you my creation, the Kinas Power Plant. Come inside." He turned and walked into the huge building. To many it would look like a large dome of concrete with a huge radar dish on it's top. The dish pointed directly to the sky and was fixed to it's position. In the center of it was a beam of yellowish light, seemingly coming from heaven like a supernatural laser. Most of the students in the trip had to admit, it's looked kind of Sci-Fi.

"Wow. Talk about major cool, huh James?" A girl asked to the boy beside her. The girl in question was in a leather mini-skirt with blood red button-up shirt and knee high boots. Her black hair had steaks of red through it and her eyes were a crystal blue. The boy in question nodded in response.

"I know Alex. It is cool. Far away from town though." Her companion was slightly taller than her five feet nine inches form. At 5'10 James wore blue jeans, simple sneakers and a blue t-shirt with red trim. Short black hair and brown eyes completed the look.

Liberty City (Not the one in Grand Theft Auto III, thank you) was a city in the sense of the word. Not huge like New York, but large enough to warrant a subway system. The Liberty City prototype Kinas Plant was the first of it's kind, located on a mountain to remove any interference from it's signals.

Alex shrugged and followed the group. "Yeah, it's a bit far out of town. My rear is aching from all the sitting I was doing on the bus."

James nodded as he kept pace with her. "I know. Well, let's see what there is to see."

O

Elsewhere, in a hidden location...

O

He was Bolivar Trask. Genius in robotics. Wealthy beyond measure.

And very much obsessed with mutants.

They hid. Some in tunnels, others in plain sight. They all had odd and fantastic powers.

Powers to conquer humanity. Which he would not allow.

It should be noted Bolivar was rather racist about mutants. He knew that the mutant 'Magneto' wanted to conquer the humans of the planet. He would lead the mutants to fight against the normal humans. A fight he could win.

Unless the Sentinels defeated him. Robots of destructive power of his design and programmed for the search and extermination of mutants as well as latent mutants and humans who's taint could give birth to mutants.

Once all mutants and tainted humans were gone all that would be left would be pure humans and pure genocide.

He turned to an assistant. "Are the HK-1s ready to deploy?"

The assistant nodded. "Yes, to your specifications. Are you sure we shouldn't monitor them? Or at least have some uplink in case they are destroyed and we are unable to retrieve them?"

The HK-1 (Hunter-Killer) Series was his second Sentinel design. Standing eight feet tall and looking like giant metal moles the HK-1 Series were equipped with lasers in each arm and missiles in each shoulder. Thrusters in the back and legs provided thrust for flight. They weren't agile in the air, but they were fast. Heavy armor guarded against forces ranging from small arms fire to the impact of a speeding car. Their programming was closing to perfection but the units still tended to lose track of targets when the exited their line-of-sight, and there was a few other bugs, but the programming would do for the time being.

His first Sentinel Design, the MACK-1 (Massive Assault, Capture and Kill) was still in production, the massive robot had an improved AI and even better weaponry, but there were too big to go into caves and building and tunnels where mutants would likely take shelter in. They would be used for the more troublesome and powerful mutants.

Trask shook his head as he finished his reflection. "No, I want to see what they can do by themselves. What about the MSJ.? Is it activated yet?"

The Assistant nodded and pointed to a display reading 'Mutant Signal Jammer'. "Yes. Any device designed to track or locate mutant signatures will be jammed for the entire city. This 'Magneto' will find nothing here."

Task nodded. "Liberty City is the first city to be cleansed. Then the Eastern United States. Then the world. Deploy the two HK-1s in ten minutes. Let me know when they return.

O

Meanwhile, back at the Kinas Power Plant...

O

"This is our main control room." Kinas said as the school children looked around. The room was circular with several stations. "The plant is monitored by both human and computer. This is because while the plant creates large amounts of power, it can also be dangerous. It works like so." He tapped a few buttons on a nearby station and a screen in the center of the room lit up, showing a view of the region from space. "This is video feed from one of our satellites in space. A system of five satellites collects solar energy and by using giant mirrors reflects them to the main satellite, orbiting earth in tune with the planet's rotation. This satellite then directs all that energy as a beam into the dish above the plant. The dish itself is a collection of solar panels that transform the solar energy into electricity. It is clean, efficient and effective. However it IS a beam of concentrated solar energy. If it were to stray from the dish the damage it could cause would be tremendous. Under that intense light human tissue would turn to ash. Needless to say, sunscreen won't help much." A few of the children laughed. "As you might imagine the satellite requires a lot of know how with mathematics, particularly angles, to avert disaster. We can change the angle of any satellite from here in case the orbit of one satellite changes. Now, let me talk about the cooling system..."

O

Meanwhile, in an alley of Liberty City...

O

His name... He forgot. He was called Jester. Gang leader. Nut case. Thug. Whatever you will. He also had ambition.

And a plan... an interesting plan...

O

Later...

O

"Sheesh, all that talk and here we are back on our butts." One of the students moaned on the bus trip back to Liberty City.

Alex leaned over to whisper to her friend. "I gotta agree, I should have skipped this trip."

"No arguments here." James said turning to the window. At least it was a nice day, some good sun, the trees and mountains on the way back was a good view, those big metal birds...

Wait. Big metal birds?

He turned to look at two decidedly not-bird-like metal things in the sky, fast approaching them. "What is that?" He said, Alex leaning over to him to get a better view. She blinked as two humanoid figures passed overhead and moved ahead of the bus. The bus slowed to a halt in response.

X

HK-1-0000-001: Scanning for Mutant Genes.

...

...

...

Scan complete.

One Tainted Human. Probability of subject's offspring becoming a mutant: 83.2%. Designated as Target-001.

One Latent Mutant. Scan accuracy: 93.4% Designated as Target-002.

One Latent Mutant. Scan accuracy 97.1%. Designated as Target-003

Remaining subjects are human. All remaining subjects are Designated Non-Targets.

ALERT!

Target-003 Bio-readings fluctuating! Possible Manifestation of mutant powers! ETA of Manifestation: Within 42 minutes, 12 seconds! Stress of attack may force early Manifestation!

Target-003 Designated as Priority Target! Exterminate immediately!

X

The students all blinked as the robots looked at them. Their arms raised.

All hell broke loose. Once the arms came up most of the students threw themselves down. Lasers pierced the bus and one beam passed a student's head. Then everyone went for an exit, scrambling as they got free. James ran a few feet from the bus once he got away from the mob and looked at the robots. They turned and looked back. Panels opened to expose missiles. James took the hint and ran, eyes scanning for any cover he could find, dashing towards some old caves. A pair of missiles flew through the air flying past James and hitting the ground in front of him. The explosion wasn't close enough to harm him, however ground gave way underneath him and he fell into the caverns below.

X

HK-1-0000-001: Scanning for Priority Target.

...

...

...

Priority Target Lost. HK-1-0000-002 will exterminate the following targets: 001, 002.

HK-1-0000-001 will patrol area. Will locate Taget-003 once Target-003 has Manifested. Scanners will be able to detect Bio-Signature of Target-003 after Manifestation.

Commencing Patrol.

X

Alex held a hand to her chest as she struggled to calm down. "Bloody hell, we're being attacked by ROBOTS?"

She watched as one lifted above the ground and began to circle the area. The second she lost track of. And as for James...

That was what scared her. Her best friend could have been killed just now and what help did she offer? She ran and screamed. Loudly. Alex carefully snuck away from the circling robot. She was going to find her friend, and she was going to do it now.

Without screaming.

X

HK-1-0000-002: Commencing Search.

Targets-001 and 002 have been lost. Probability they have scattered with Non-Targets in immediate area: 74.2%.

Beginning Search.

X

"Ouch." One word summed up James' state. Sore, but not really hurt. He stood up and looked around at his surroundings.

Total blackness. That was all he could see. "Great. I must have fallen into an old mine-shaft or something. He picked a direction and began moving, up until he bumped into something. "Ouch! Man I wish I had a flashlight."

His aimless wandering continued. Four more times he walked face-first into something. Each time he complained. Then he let out a long growl. "Where is a flashlight when you need one!?" He shook his fist in the air rapidly, cursing his situation. Then he could make out his fist. He stopped and looked at it. His entire hand glowed with a pale blue. And slowly the blue crept down his arm, over his chest, down his body and his other arm, coating his head, covering his head, until his whole body glowed a pale blue.

He looked over himself and then around himself. He could actually see details of the mine shaft now, as well as the beam he hit his head on.

"OK. First robots, now I'm turning into a human flashlight... What's next?"

X

HK-1-0000-001: Patrolling.

ALERT! Target-003 has begun to Manifest! Accuracy of scan: 98.9%! Location confirmed! Sending location to HK-1-0000-002!

Proceeding to Target-003's Location.

X

Alex watched as the circling robot flew into a hole. The other she caught a glimpse of, walking down a mineshaft. She breathed a sigh of relief. Now if she could James...

===

Profiles: Hugh Kinas

Occupation: Scientist, Inventor, Head Supervisor of the Liberty City Kinas Power Plant and President of Kinas Energy LMT

Likes: Environmentally friendly energy resources, Children, Smores

Dislikes: Gangs, Bureaucrats, Strawberry Ice Cream

Hugh Kinas grew up in the east side of Liberty City, known for several tough gangs. After losing his father to a drive by intended for a rival gang member, Kinas swore he would devote his life to helping people. In this aspect he devised the Kinas Plant, a series of satellites creating a powerful beam of solar energy which can be collected by a solar dish. His prototype plant outside of Liberty City is capable of meeting the energy needs of both Liberty City and five other cities by itself. Kinas himself is a kind man who sees to it that five percent of the funds brought in by his company will go to some sort of charity.


	2. The Blue Lantern?

For reference, this is in the X-Men Evo universe, but the X-Men themselves won't be involved for awhile. K?  
  
Now that that is out of the way...  
  
===  
  
"Well, at least I can see where I'm going now." James said as he wandered the old tunnels. OK, glowing like a firefly still bugged him a bit but it let him see where he was going and it seemed to be easy enough to keep doing. Unfortunately now that he could see where he was going he realized he had a new problem.  
  
Every tunnel and passage looked the same! He was standing with a tunnel behind him, a tunnel ahead of him and one to the left and another to the right. Any of them could lead out of the tunnels or deeper into them. He shook his head.  
  
"Einie, Minie, Minnie, Moe... Out of here I hope I go..." James began to walk down the passage to his right, hoping it led somewhere.  
  
X

HK-1-0000-001: Searching for Target.  
  
Approaching Target-003's Location. Battle Systems at 100.0% Operation Status.

X  
  
Alex walked over and peered behind a rock, smiling as she saw some familiar faces. "Tom, Randy, are you all right?"  
  
The two boys turned to look at her and nodded. "Yeah, we're fine. Randy here just found me." The brown haired boy said gesturing to the blonde.  
  
"Yeah. Say where is James at?"  
  
Alex's expression dropped a little. "I don't know, I lost sight of him."  
  
"It's all right, we'll find him. In the meantime, let's get to the bus, maybe a couple of guys went back there. James might have gone back." Tom suggested.  
  
Alex nodded and took and began walking away from one of the rock formations she saw on the way in. With any luck it would lead her to the road.  
  
O

Meanwhile, in the caverns below...

O  
  
"Einie, Minie, Minnie, Moe... Boy these choices are getting old..." James said. In own mind he added 'Yeah keep up the smart talk. Might keep you from freaking out a bit longer.'  
  
Once more his back was to a tunnel he just exited. And three more tunnels were laid out before him, each looking the same.  
  
He looked at each one trying to find some hidden sign that could tell him which way to go. He was about to just pick one when a noise interrupted his thoughts. Looking down the left tunnel he peered at tried to make out the sound. To him it sounded like really heavy footsteps... Almost like...  
  
"Crap! It's Robo-Creep!"  
  
Looking at the two other tunnels he hadn't gone down he made his choice, the one to the right. "Einie, Minie, Minnie, Moe... To outrun a robot, here I go!"  
  
He dashed down the tunnel, the footsteps still behind him. He hoped he was outrunning it anyway, but who knew. He ran into an open room and looked around. Beams. Rock walls. An old shovel nearby. No other exits. He turned around to go back the way he came, then froze.  
  
The robot was already there, walking closer to him, arms raised and missiles exposed.  
  
James took a step back, eyes wide. "Not good..."  
  
X

HK-1-0000-001: Target-003 Acquired  
  
Preparing to Terminate.

X  
  
As it arms raised James brought his arms up over his face in instinct in a futile attempt to prevent damage. One of his palms face the robot and began to glow brighter as he literally felt the energy push down his arm. Suddenly a beam of bright blue light shot from his hand into the robot's chest, knocking it backwards as it fired it's missiles, changing their path upward into the ceiling above James causing a piece of rock to drop towards his head. He yelped and raised his arms over his head to block the new threat, which slammed into his arms then fell dropped off of him to the ground beside him. He stopped and looked at the rock as sunlight shone through the hole in the ceiling.  
  
It was probably as big as he was and should have crushed his body by all rights. How did he take that like it was a fluffy object in one of his and Alex's pillow fights? Did this glowing... aura around him protect him? And how did he fire off that blast?  
  
Looking at the robot and seeing stumble to it's feet James decided to wonder about that later. He raised his palm and tried to recreate the feeling that had created the blast. Breathing slowly he pushed the energy down his arm again, this time focusing on pushing more of it out. This time a brighter blast burst forth striking the chest of the robot again. When the blast stopped James could see the hole in it's chest as it fell forward. An explosion in it's chest told the story as it hit the ground. It was done for.  
  
X

HK-1-0000-002: Contact with HK-1-0000-001 Lost  
  
Possibility of Unit Signal being lost: 13.1% Possibility of Unit Being out of communication range: 2.4% Possibility of Unit Destruction: 79.7%  
  
Probability of Destruction by Target-003: 66.4%  
  
Suggested Courses of Action: Locate Target-003, Retreat to Waypoint-HQ Course of Action Selected, Locating Target-003

X  
  
"OK, so what am I now? The Blue Lantern?"  
  
On a whim he looked at the shovel in the room and raised a hand at it. He raised a hand and drew the energy down his arm again, this time focusing, willing the energy to surround the shovel. Soon the shovel gained a blue aura like himself and as he lifted his hand the shovel lifted off the ground. Then with a bit of practice, the shovel rose higher, then lower, back and forth, left and right. Smiling he let the shovel drop and concentrated on the rock that fell on him. Like before he 'grabbed' it with the blue energy and with a slight effort lifted it from the ground.  
  
He smiled as he twisted the rock in mid-air. "Now this is cool... what the?" He held the rock still as he heard another set of heavy foot step approach. "Robo-number-2 huh? I can handle it." He grinned readying his new found power as the robot began to come into view. The energy in him seemed... alive... as if it was awaiting his command and direction. He leveled his hand at the machine and willed the rock to fly very fast into it. Although it flew to the robot it was far from as fast as he had hoped. The robot easily backhanded the rock away.  
  
"OK, that didn't work... plan B then."  
  
James threw his fist at the robot as the energy ran down his arm and burst as a blue beam at the robot. The energy slammed into it and punched into it's amour. The robot dropped backwards, something inside of it detonating as it did so. James smiled and dusted his hands off. "Now that is more like it." He looked at the sunlight coming from the ceiling and nodded. "And I have my way out. Once I can reach it. But how am I going to get up there, by fly... ing?  
  
James blinked and looked at his energy surrounded body. "Wait a sec. If I can move those things around without touching them with my power... Can I move myself with it? Guess I can try it." He took a deep breath and focused on his own aura which glowed brighter than before. Slowly his body lifted from the ground, his head turning upwards to the sunlight. Slowly but surely he lifted himself from the hole, back to the outside world. Gently he set himself on the ground looking around. Taking a deep breath he 'let go' of his power, waiting for a moment before it faded. He took a deep breath and looked around. He was near the road with the yellow beam of the Kinas Planet behind him and to the left. He walked on to the road and looked around seeing the bus down the ways with the students returning to it. He quickly got up to a jog and approached the yellow bus.  
  
O

Meanwhile...

O  
  
Alex paced nervously outside the bus. The teacher had done a head count and only one person was missing.  
  
James.  
  
Some of the students thought the two of them were dating. In truth they were best friends, almost siblings. They always went to the same school, lived in the same block and liked the same foods, even the same movies. They were confidents to each other and would watch the other's back. That was the reason they never dated like some thought. Heck, until he turned fourteen he practically lived in her house, his father traveling the world as a go-between for big businesses.  
  
In her mind James was her brother, even if not by birth. And she was not into incest, thank you very much.  
  
And who knows what could have happened to him. She looked up at the sky and wondered where he was...  
  
"Hey, Alex!" Funny, she was starting to hear voices now...  
  
"Alex, you OK?" Alex in turned blinked and spun around.  
  
There jogging up to her was James, looking none the worse for wear. With a quick shout she rushed him with a quick hug.  
  
--BAP--  
  
Followed by the hitting of the back of his head. "Where the hell were you!?" A few of the other students walked closer and started to ask the same question.  
  
Thinking fast James decided on the truth, leaving out the glowing and robots. "I fell into a cave, took me awhile to get out of there."  
  
"Who cares?!" One of the student's shouted out. "Let's get out of here before anything else shows up!"  
  
After that statement everyone piled into the bus, undamaged save a couple laser holes in the seats and windshield. The teacher drove as fast as he would dare until he came close to Liberty City, at which point he began to slow down.  
  
All the while James looked out the window, brow furrowed. Alex looked at her friend and wonder what happened. She knew he didn't tell the whole truth, not yet anyway... And when she asked the only thing he said was 'I'll tell you later'.  
  
Which lead her to ask... what happened in those caves?  
  
O

Meanwhile...

O  
  
Jester looked over his gang of thugs and smirked. A few checked their new hardware, AK-47s a handful of grenades and one RPG (Rocket Propelled Grenade) launcher with two grenades.  
  
Oh yes, he had a plan... One to make him very rich...  
  
===  
  
Profiles: HK-1 (Hunter-Killer) Occupation: Hunting Mutants Likes: None Dislikes: None  
  
Although the HK-1s were the first Sentinels deployed by Bolivar Trask they were only his second design, the MACK-1s (Massive Assault, Capture and Kill) were bigger took much longer to produce and prepare. The smaller HK- 1s not only took less time to make, but at eight feet tall they are able to follow mutants inside any building they take shelter in. They look for the most part like walking moles with steel armor.  
  
The HK-1s are equipped with lasers in each arm, capable of piercing concrete with ease and are able to incinerate human tissue. Also each shoulder has a missile rack with two missiles in each salvo and each rack having up to four more salvos. These missiles are capable of destroying tanks with one salvo.  
  
Thrusters in the upper back and legs of the HK-1s gives it air maneuverability, however it is primarily a ground based machine and is not very agile in the sky. It has a maximum air speed of 64 Miles an hour. On the ground the HK-1 is a reasonably agile machine, comparable to a man in medieval armor, however they are not programmed to do rolls or other such maneuvers. HK-1s normally moves at the same pace as a human does while walking but can run up to 26 miles an hour if necessary.  
  
The HK-1s armor is comprised of a special light steel of one of Trask's associates. Called 'Frozen Steel' for the sub-zero cooling process in it's manufacture, a plate of Frozen Steel can with stand up to eight direct hits from an RPG Launcher before it starts to give way. It is also half the weight of conventional steel. Anything smaller than an RPG will do almost no damage. Although a mutant with the power of Cyclops could destroy an HK- 1s armor with little trouble most mutants do not have that level of fire power and can do little but run from the HK-1s, an example of such a mutant is Jubilee.  
  
There are, however, numerous design flaws. It's AI Program is 'basic' keeping the HK-1 from being able to make complex and effective plans. It also loses targets after it leaves it's line of sight. Without human direction HK-1s are, in a word, stupid. In addition the HK-1s joints is lightly plated, and most of it's back armor is thinner than the front. Weaker powers may be able to pierce the armor there. Trask is aware of most of these problems and is designing newer HK-2s to address these issues.  
  
===  
  
Reviews? Suggestions? All are appreciated.


	3. Old Costume, New Hero

Chapter 3, please review all right?  
  
===  
  
"We must all not speak of this, he says. No one would believe us he, says." Alex said as they walked to James' house, side by side mocking the teacher along the way. "I don't care what he says, I know what I saw! A giant freaking ROBOT! And I know there's something you haven't told me James, we've been raised in pretty much the same God-Damned CRIB for crying out loud, so SPILL IT BUSTER!"  
  
James sighed for the fifth time since they started walking home. "I'll tell you when we get home, alright? This isn't exactly something I need everyone and their dog knowing."  
  
Alex groaned before her shoulders slumped in defeat. "All right, but you are so coming clean with this, got it?"  
  
James nodded as they finally arrived at his house, they entered closing the door behind them then both he and Alex set their bags in the corner of the living room.  
  
His house. The phrase seemed odd since he had spent the bulk of his years living with Alex in her house. Since his mother's death his father had thrown himself into his work, flying from country to country, business to business. Since a young child couldn't live on his own he was sent to the Yorkshire Household where he was raised along side Alex, the two seemingly inseparable. It wasn't until he turned fourteen that he had finally returned 'home' for more than a few days, the days his father would be around.  
  
In a way the tables were turned now, since Alex seemed to spend a lot of her time staying over at his place. He turned the downstairs lights on and went to the recreation room in the basement of the house. James went to a spot in front of the TV and tuned around, considering the best way to do this. Alex walked over and sat on the armrest of the couch, looking at him with her arms crossed. "OK, get on with it."  
  
James nodded and looked at her. "Giving you far warning though, it is kinda... weird."  
  
"What do you mean by 'weird'?"  
  
James took a deep breath and concentrated on the energy he felt before. He could feel it within him, as if it was waiting for his call. With a deep breath he directed that energy to surround him like it did in the tunnels, to wrap his body in a glowing barrier. He could see Alex's eyes widen as the energy responded, surrounding him in a blue glow like he was a human glow-bug.  
  
"I think I got superpowers for whatever reason. Pretty neat huh?" He smiled at Alex trying to make his friend feel at ease.  
  
In response she fainted, falling onto the couch.  
  
James sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Alex! Come on, Dick Grayson didn't faint when he found out Bruce Wayne was Batman."  
  
O

Meanwhile...

O  
  
He sat on the old box, leg lazily banging against it as he looked over the old abandoned warehouse office and waited for tonight. The Benmark Shipment. In all honesty he had little idea what it was, some form of chemicals. It could have been explosives, it could have been toxic waste, and it could have been a new version of Windex for all he knew.  
  
But it was valuable. All he had to do was steal it, find out what it was, and then go through his Black Market contacts to find out who wanted it.  
  
Yes, Jester was sure whatever the hell it was it would sell for a high price. A loud ringing was heard and the large bald man next to him reached into his pocket to pull out a small cell phone. He opened it up and pressed a button before holding it to his ear.  
  
"Duh, yeah? Dis is Taro. ... Uh huh. ... Uh huh. ... Really? I'll tell da boss den. ... Dah, yeah, thank you."  
  
The big man closed the phone and put it into his pocket. Jester turned to his right hand, Damien Taro. Not very smart, but strong and loyal.  
  
He preferred loyal over smart anyway. Taro turned to look at him. "Dah, dat was Wasten boss. He says da shipment been delayed, till tomorrow night."  
  
Jester sighed and stood up pushing himself away from the box. "Nothing we can do about that then. We wait."  
  
Compared to Taro's 6'7 height with a football player's build Jester was a much shorter 5'8 and with a thin build. His Wild Cards feared him however, that 5'8 man could beat any one they knew of. Wearing black leather pants, combat boots, black cotton tank top and a black cloak he looked frightening enough despite his stature. His face, however, was an unknown. He wore a white plastic mask over it with clown-style red lips. The holes for the eyes were covered in tinted glass and there was enough of an opening in the mouth of his mask to breath easily. The only make anyone knew of was a tattoo of two cards, a joker and an ace of spades on his upper right arm. All members of the Wild Cards had the same tattoo in the same spot.  
  
Taro meanwhile dressed himself in a business suit with a 60's mafia style hat. In a case next to him was an M60 with three boxes of ammunition. The strong man proved that, while not 'smart' he was more than able to lay down heavy fire with the biggest of guns.  
  
"Come now Taro. We'll tell the boys. Tomorrow night is our night then!"  
  
O

Meanwhile, back at the house...

O  
  
Alex moaned slightly as she opened her eyes. As she began to sit up on the couch she was laying on as she heard her friend's footsteps approach. "Oh boy, James I had this real weird dream, we got to your place and you started to... glow?" She looked at her friend, still surrounded in a blue glow, as he sat down next to her. "On second thought I must be dreaming still."  
  
"No dream Alex." James said sitting next to her. "But it IS weird."  
  
Alex laid a hand on her friend's shoulder, the glow warming her hand as she touched it. "This is for real? Wicked!"  
  
James smiled, feeling better now his friend wasn't freaking out. "That's not all, check this out!" James pointed a hand at a book across the room. With some concentration a glow started to surround the book as it lifted off the ground and started to float over to them. With a little effort James set it gently on his friend's lap.  
  
"Cool!"  
  
"Gets better." James said standing up and moving away from the couch. He started to lean back until Alex was sure he'd fall backwards, but instead his feet left the floor and he crossed his ankles together as he floated in mid-air. "No need for a lazy-boy!"  
  
"Oh, now that is totally cool!" Alex said clapping her hands. "How'd you get these powers?"  
  
"I don't know! I was screaming at how damn dark it was in the caves, then next thing I know I'm glowing! Came in handy too. I wandered around until those robots found me."  
  
Now Alex started to worry. "What happened to them? You didn't get hurt did you?"  
  
"Believe it or not, no." James said setting himself back on his feet. "One of them took a big chunk of the roof out that landed on top of me, but I shrugged it off like one of your swings in a pillow fight. Heck, I made these weird blasts from my hands and took them both down and made it look almost easy! I don't know what is going on, but I'm getting these weird powers and they saved my bacon from those 'bots." He went over to a pool table in another part of the room, leaning on a hand against it as he tuned to look at Alex body still glowing. "It's just... weird."  
  
"Yeah, it's like your turning into the Green Lantern or something. Only Blue." Alex said as her eyes lit up. "Hey, there's an idea!"  
  
James looked at her, head tilted to one side. "What?"  
  
Alex smiled and leveled a finger at James. "You could be a genuine Super- Hero!"  
  
James blinked back before smiling back and nodding slightly. "Yeah... I could, couldn't I?"  
  
O  
  
Since the first play of Simon Grant High School in 1942 at the height of the Second World War, entitled Star-Land vs. Hole-Place, SGHS has held one play scripted by students during the Liberty City Star Parade.  
  
Six months ago, the student directing the new play asked James and Alex to make a 'Batman-ish' costume for a superhero play. The two of them put their heads together and made an original one-of-a-kind costume for the play. Before it was done, however, their costume was dismissed for a costume of a yellow and black striped shirt, black sweat pants, an old Batman Halloween mask with yellow styrofoam balls stuck on the points, and added cheap transparent wings. Wasp-Man was born, and Alex and James' as- of-yet-unnamed hero uniform was completed for reasons they didn't remember, stuck in a box and placed it in the attic where it stayed until today unseen by anyone else.  
  
Alex ventured into the dusty room and brought the box back down. She handed it to James who retreated into his room. Alex waited outside his room as James gave the costume a try out. After a moment he called out, saying he was ready.  
  
She opened the door and looked at him as he adjusted a glove. The costume was made of black spandex, from ankle to neck to wrist. Black gloves and boots covered his hands and feet, a cape curtained from his shoulders to his ankles. The mask was 'Batman-ish' save the lack of ears/points. They came up with an original symbol for their costume as well, a black circle with a thick blue ring with points extending from the ring like a compass. The longest points were at the north, south, west and east points, the shortest at north-west, south-west, north-east and south-east points. In between those points were points that were slightly longer than the shorter ones. This symbol was present on the front of the chest and the back of the cape. Smaller versions of it was on the mask's forehead, the back and palm of the gloves and the sides of the boots. The last detail was a flame- like design going from the eyes to make a half-circle around the forehead circle. The final article of clothing was the black 'utility belt' with blue buttons that wrapped around his waist with several pockets of varying sizes.  
  
"Damn boy, you look handsome!"  
  
"Thanks Alex. The symbol on it fits too; it's like the glow around me, the blue ring with spikes on the black circle."  
  
"Thanks, made it myself. Got the idea from seeing an eclipse."  
  
James turned to the mirror and took another long look at himself. "All I need now is a name."  
  
"Blue Star?" Alex suggested.  
  
"No."  
  
"Light-Man?"  
  
"Too Cliché. I need an original name no one else would think of."  
  
Alex scratched her chin in thought as James looked at the symbol again. It did look like an eclipse, the black moon with a blue corona of light around it. Suddenly the name hit him.  
  
"Corona." He said simply.  
  
"What?" Alex said turning to him.  
  
James smiled and held his arms out, pinching the edges of his cape with his fingers. "My superhero name. I am Corona!"  
  
Alex smiled back. "Has a nice ring to it. I like it superhero. Now, get to street clothing. If you going to fly off, you can't do it from your house, secret identity and all that."  
  
James nodded and started to change as Alex left the room. After he had changed he put the costume in an old bag and left his room to join Alex to find someplace to take off into the sky from.  
  
He couldn't wipe the grin from his face, he was looking forward to this.  
  
===  
  
Profile: Simon Grant High School Occupation: Institute of Higher Learning Likes: None Dislikes: None  
  
On June, 23rd of 1804 a man known as Simon Grant founded a small outpost in the State of New York. Calling the outpost Liberty Point it attracted fishermen, fur traders, lumberjacks and men of other trades. By 1846 it had become a small city. In that year, forty-two years on the day after the founding of Liberty Point, Simon Grant died of old age. To celebrate his life and to honor his death the city announced the Liberty Point Star Parade. Although it was held each year afterwards it wasn't until August, 11th, 1868 that the Star Parade was officially made an annual event. On October, 2nd, 1888 Liberty Point was officially renamed Liberty City and the Liberty point Star Parade became the Liberty City Star Parade.  
  
On June, 23rd 1904 then Mayor Timothy Samuel hammered in the last nail of the new Simon Grant High School. It remained a standard high school since it's completion until 1942 during the height of the Second World War. During the Star Parade students of the Simon Grant High School put on a somewhat low-budget play, 'Star-Land vs. Hole-Place' a combination of satire and drama about the soldiers in the war to lift town spirits about those who went of to war. Each following year the SGHS would put on a new play, scripted and performed by the students of the school, a tradition which continues today.  
  
SGHS has been updated and modernized since it's construction in 1904. In addition to the usual classrooms it has a wood workshop, metal workshop, small garage, dark room for photography, two gymnasiums, a football field with bleachers and an area for a concession stand, a track and field area, two computer rooms (One Macintosh, the other PC), a nurses room, councilor's room, teacher's lounge, music room and cafeteria. Other areas include storage rooms, bathrooms, showers and the janitors closet of cleaning things.  
  
Reviews please! Pretty, pretty please?


End file.
